What a cheek!!!!!
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 3:25 am
The Sunday Times - Sport
The Sunday Times January 08, 2006
IRB urged to rerun 2011 World Cup vote or face lawsuit,
STEPHEN JONES, RUGBY CORRESPONDENT
New Zealand?s right to host rugby?s showcase has been challenged amid allegations of a flawed voting process
THE International Rugby Board (IRB), the sport?s ruling body, has been asked to annul the vote of its own council that awarded the 2011 Rugby World Cup to New Zealand.
The Asian Rugby Union (ARU) has petitioned the Dublin-based body, asking for a new vote on the grounds that the previous ballot lacked transparency because the way members of the council cast their votes was not disclosed.
The decision to give the tournament to New Zealand instead of Japan or South Africa caused widespread dismay in the sport. Now, under threat of legal action, the IRB is being urged to conduct a new vote under independent auspices. If the first vote is declared void and the tournament is taken away from New Zealand, it would be unprecedented in the history of major sport.
The Sunday Times understands that Syd Millar, the IRB chairman, received a fax on Thursday from Addleshaw Goddard, a law firm based in England, acting on behalf of the ARU, of which the Japan Rugby Union is a member. The letter requests that a new vote takes place by March 31 ?to minimise damage to the sport? and that unless the IRB responds by this coming Friday, then the Asian union may take action in court under English law, ?the governing law of the IRB constitution?.
Alongside the alleged lack of transparency of the voting procedure, there are serious specific allegations, notably of horse-trading between Ireland, whose two votes were vital to New Zealand?s cause, and the New Zealand Rugby Union. ?We are aware . . . that the two Irish members were encouraged to vote for New Zealand by being promised the appearance of the All Blacks at the opening ceremony of the redeveloped Lansdowne Road ground,? says the letter.
It also alleges that South Africa and New Zealand made a secret pact that if either was eliminated after round one of the voting, then their own votes would revert to each other.
The ARU?s lawyers say that because of the secrecy surrounding the vote, nobody can be certain that procedures were not ?used by council members to obtain dubious benefits for themselves or their unions?, or that council members carried out the mandate of their own individual union, so that ?inducements could be given with impunity?.
No individual council members are implicated in anything illegal. ?There is no suggestion of any corruption among IRB members,? the letter says.
However, the ARU?s legal team draws a potential parallel with the awarding of the 2002 Winter Olympics to
Salt Lake City, about which allegations of corruption surfaced. They also allege that the secrecy of the vote was against the IRB constitution.
Last night, while admitting that the letter had been received, the IRB questioned its status. ?We have been informed that the letter was not sent by insistence of officially elected representatives of the ARU and we have been asked not to do anything until the ARU can fully investigate,? it said.
The suggestion that the letter was some kind of unofficial or even renegade approach was dismissed last night by Quentin Smith, the head of the Sports Business Group at Addleshaw Goddard. He said that the approach to his firm had come from the president of the ARU, adding: ?We?re not the kind of company that takes a punt. We are absolutely clear that our instructions have come from the highest level of the ARU.?
Three days after the vote on November 17, The Sunday Times revealed the muzzling of the voting process. Originally, the IRB said it would not announce which countries had voted for which contenders, but that actual voting numbers would be revealed. During the meeting, Ireland successfully tabled a motion that even overall numbers would not be revealed. The South Africans were staggered when they discovered that Ireland had opted for New Zealand (South Africa ?s delegation remain furious with the IRFU for what they see as a late change of mind).
Last night, Noel Murphy, one of Ireland?s two representatives on the IRB, denied that the two Irish members did a deal with New Zealand in return for the All Blacks appearing at the opening ceremony at the redeveloped Lansdowne Road. He also refused to reveal who had received Ireland?s two votes. ?We never discussed one iota whatsoever about fixtures or anything like that with the New Zealand Rugby Union,? he said. ?I?m not saying who we voted for or who we didn?t vote for. The Irish Rugby Football Union made the decision ? we were mandated what to do.?
For Japan and their Asian neighbours to complain reveals the depth of their outrage. The first JRU official communiqu? after the vote was typically graceful. ?It has been a great honour . . . to be competing alongside such great and traditional rugby nations as New Zealand and South Africa.?
But the union president, Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister, later abandoned the traditional reserve. ?The ideal of rugby has disappeared,? he said.
Sour grapes from a country that bribes smaller nations to back its efforts to overthrow the international ban on killing whales.
Mart
The Sunday Times January 08, 2006
IRB urged to rerun 2011 World Cup vote or face lawsuit,
STEPHEN JONES, RUGBY CORRESPONDENT
New Zealand?s right to host rugby?s showcase has been challenged amid allegations of a flawed voting process
THE International Rugby Board (IRB), the sport?s ruling body, has been asked to annul the vote of its own council that awarded the 2011 Rugby World Cup to New Zealand.
The Asian Rugby Union (ARU) has petitioned the Dublin-based body, asking for a new vote on the grounds that the previous ballot lacked transparency because the way members of the council cast their votes was not disclosed.
The decision to give the tournament to New Zealand instead of Japan or South Africa caused widespread dismay in the sport. Now, under threat of legal action, the IRB is being urged to conduct a new vote under independent auspices. If the first vote is declared void and the tournament is taken away from New Zealand, it would be unprecedented in the history of major sport.
The Sunday Times understands that Syd Millar, the IRB chairman, received a fax on Thursday from Addleshaw Goddard, a law firm based in England, acting on behalf of the ARU, of which the Japan Rugby Union is a member. The letter requests that a new vote takes place by March 31 ?to minimise damage to the sport? and that unless the IRB responds by this coming Friday, then the Asian union may take action in court under English law, ?the governing law of the IRB constitution?.
Alongside the alleged lack of transparency of the voting procedure, there are serious specific allegations, notably of horse-trading between Ireland, whose two votes were vital to New Zealand?s cause, and the New Zealand Rugby Union. ?We are aware . . . that the two Irish members were encouraged to vote for New Zealand by being promised the appearance of the All Blacks at the opening ceremony of the redeveloped Lansdowne Road ground,? says the letter.
It also alleges that South Africa and New Zealand made a secret pact that if either was eliminated after round one of the voting, then their own votes would revert to each other.
The ARU?s lawyers say that because of the secrecy surrounding the vote, nobody can be certain that procedures were not ?used by council members to obtain dubious benefits for themselves or their unions?, or that council members carried out the mandate of their own individual union, so that ?inducements could be given with impunity?.
No individual council members are implicated in anything illegal. ?There is no suggestion of any corruption among IRB members,? the letter says.
However, the ARU?s legal team draws a potential parallel with the awarding of the 2002 Winter Olympics to
Salt Lake City, about which allegations of corruption surfaced. They also allege that the secrecy of the vote was against the IRB constitution.
Last night, while admitting that the letter had been received, the IRB questioned its status. ?We have been informed that the letter was not sent by insistence of officially elected representatives of the ARU and we have been asked not to do anything until the ARU can fully investigate,? it said.
The suggestion that the letter was some kind of unofficial or even renegade approach was dismissed last night by Quentin Smith, the head of the Sports Business Group at Addleshaw Goddard. He said that the approach to his firm had come from the president of the ARU, adding: ?We?re not the kind of company that takes a punt. We are absolutely clear that our instructions have come from the highest level of the ARU.?
Three days after the vote on November 17, The Sunday Times revealed the muzzling of the voting process. Originally, the IRB said it would not announce which countries had voted for which contenders, but that actual voting numbers would be revealed. During the meeting, Ireland successfully tabled a motion that even overall numbers would not be revealed. The South Africans were staggered when they discovered that Ireland had opted for New Zealand (South Africa ?s delegation remain furious with the IRFU for what they see as a late change of mind).
Last night, Noel Murphy, one of Ireland?s two representatives on the IRB, denied that the two Irish members did a deal with New Zealand in return for the All Blacks appearing at the opening ceremony at the redeveloped Lansdowne Road. He also refused to reveal who had received Ireland?s two votes. ?We never discussed one iota whatsoever about fixtures or anything like that with the New Zealand Rugby Union,? he said. ?I?m not saying who we voted for or who we didn?t vote for. The Irish Rugby Football Union made the decision ? we were mandated what to do.?
For Japan and their Asian neighbours to complain reveals the depth of their outrage. The first JRU official communiqu? after the vote was typically graceful. ?It has been a great honour . . . to be competing alongside such great and traditional rugby nations as New Zealand and South Africa.?
But the union president, Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister, later abandoned the traditional reserve. ?The ideal of rugby has disappeared,? he said.
Sour grapes from a country that bribes smaller nations to back its efforts to overthrow the international ban on killing whales.
Mart